Mehmet Celal BeyGovernor of Aleppo and KonyaCelal Bey was known for saving thousands of lives during the
Armenian Genocide and is often called Turkish Oscar Schindler. During his time
as governor of Aleppo, Mehmet Celal Bey did not believe that the deportations
were meant to "annihilate" the Armenians:

"I admit, I did not believe that these orders, these
actions revolved around the annihilation of the Armenians. I never imagined
that any government could take upon itself to annihilate its own citizens in
this manner, in effect destroying its human capital, which must be seen as the
country's greatest treasure. I presumed that the actions being carried out were
measures deriving from a desire to temporarily remove the Armenians from the
theater of war and taken as the result of wartime exigencies." Celal Bey had later admitted that he was mistaken and that
the goal was "to attempt to annihilate" the Armenians. When defying
the orders of deportation, Celal Bey was removed from his post as governor of
Aleppo and transferred to Konya. As deportations continued, he repeatedly
demanded from the central authorities that shelter be provided for the
deportees. In addition to these demands, Celal Bey sent many telegraphs and
letters of protest to the Sublime Porte stating that the "measures taken
against the Armenians were, from every point of view, contrary to the higher
interests of the fatherland." His demands, however, were ignored. Mehmet
Celal Bey compared himself to "a person sitting by the side of a river,
with absolute no means of saving anyone. Blood was flowing in the river and
thousands of innocent children, irreproachable old people, helpless women,
strong young men, were streaming down this river towards oblivion. Anyone I
could save with my bare hands I saved, and the others, I think they streamed
down the river never to return."